Fumito Ueda, the creator behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, has been working on The Last Guardian for more than seven years. It was announced in 2009 as a PlayStation 3 game, and in the following years disappeared so far into obscurity that many presumed it had been canceled. It made a triumphant return, however, at E3 2015 where it had hopped generations for release on PlayStation 4. After one final small two-month delay moving the game from its original October release to December, Sony's president of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida announced that the game was finally, truly complete.

We haven’t been able to play the full adventure yet, but we did get a chance to speak with the game’s venerated creator about his upcoming post-Last Guardian life, some of his favorite recent games, and what time of the day he gets his creative work done.

I understand The Last Guardian has gone gold. The game is done. How do you feel about that? Nervous? Relieved? Excited?

In the late 1980s, Mario ruled the platforming genre. With the flourishing NES dominating the console market, it seemed as though no legitimate challenger could emerge to take on Nintendo's juggernaut. That all changed when Sonic the Hedgehog launched on the Sega Genesis. Sonic quickly rose to threaten Nintendo's mustachioed plumber as the face of the video game industry. Sonic was so popular that Sega's mascot – not Mario – became the first video game character to receive a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. At one point, Sonic was on a trajectory to be more recognizable than Mickey Mouse, according to former director of marketing at Sega Al Nilsen, who cites the mascot's Q-Rating at its peak.

The popularity of the Sonic the Hedgehog brand aided Sega in rising up to face Nintendo. "Sonic really helped demonstrate what the power of 16-bit was versus an 8-bit system," Nilsen says. "It was kind of a game changer. It was the first product that became a 'must-have' product and the product that drove Genesis hardware sales. It really got us noticed and helped us to go and build a strong base as Super NES was coming out."

In the late 1980s, Mario ruled the platforming genre. With the flourishing NES dominating the console market, it seemed as though no legitimate challenger could emerge to take on Nintendo's juggernaut. That all changed when Sonic the Hedgehog launched on the Sega Genesis. Sonic quickly rose to threaten Nintendo's mustachioed plumber as the face of the video game industry. Sonic was so popular that Sega's mascot – not Mario – became the first video game character to receive a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. At one point, Sonic was on a trajectory to be more recognizable than Mickey Mouse, according to former director of marketing at Sega Al Nilsen, who cites the mascot's Q-Rating at its peak.

The popularity of the Sonic the Hedgehog brand aided Sega in rising up to face Nintendo. "Sonic really helped demonstrate what the power of 16-bit was versus an 8-bit system," Nilsen says. "It was kind of a game changer. It was the first product that became a 'must-have' product and the product that drove Genesis hardware sales. It really got us noticed and helped us to go and build a strong base as Super NES was coming out."

Amid all of the talk about the characters, missions, and other details, the fact that Mass Effect Andromeda is a gorgeous-looking game might get lost in the shuffle. Built in the Frostbite engine, Andromeda uses the power of current hardware to create beautiful worlds and detailed creatures – but you don't need to take our word for it. Check out the images below and see for yourself.

These new screens are from our cover story (so they may not be new to you if you've already pored over that), but they also come with some additional explanation and context.

This vehicle is called the Nomad. It's like the Mako from the first Mass Effect, except it controls better and doesn't have any offensive weaponry. Rather than create two different combat systems – one for on-foot and one for vehicles – the team at BioWare decided refine just the third-person gunplay. The planet the Nomad is driving across is Elaaden, a scorching (and optional) desert world.

Amid all of the talk about the characters, missions, and other details, the fact that Mass Effect Andromeda is a gorgeous-looking game might get lost in the shuffle. Built in the Frostbite engine, Andromeda uses the power of current hardware to create beautiful worlds and detailed creatures – but you don't need to take our word for it. Check out the images below and see for yourself.

These new screens are from our cover story (so they may not be new to you if you've already pored over that), but they also come with some additional explanation and context.

This vehicle is called the Nomad. It's like the Mako from the first Mass Effect, except it controls better and doesn't have any offensive weaponry. Rather than create two different combat systems – one for on-foot and one for vehicles – the team at BioWare decided refine just the third-person gunplay. The planet the Nomad is driving across is Elaaden, a scorching (and optional) desert world.

This weekend Team Game Informer banded together and raised over $52,000 for Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, MN by participating in the Extra Life charity stream. We cannot thank those that watched and donated enough for their generous support. It was a 25-hour stream filled with kindness and a bunch of very embarrassing moments for Game Informer's editors, so we wanted to promote this archive as a thank you present to those that donated. Please leave any feedback on the stream in the comments below, let us know what you want to see more of next year, and let's get ready to knock things out of the park again in the future.

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We want to point out that donations are still open, so you're welcome to keep the generosity rolling in. Also, below you will find timestamps for some key moments. Let us know what we missed.

This weekend Team Game Informer banded together and raised over $52,000 for Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, MN by participating in the Extra Life charity stream. We cannot thank those that watched and donated enough for their generous support. It was a 25-hour stream filled with kindness and a bunch of very embarrassing moments for Game Informer's editors, so we wanted to promote this archive as a thank you present to those that donated. Please leave any feedback on the stream in the comments below, let us know what you want to see more of next year, and let's get ready to knock things out of the park again in the future.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

We want to point out that donations are still open, so you're welcome to keep the generosity rolling in. Also, below are timestamps for some key moments. Let us know what we missed.

As much as I want to turn this column into a meaty discussion about Mass Effect Andromeda, Game Informer is hittingthatdrumthunderously; you already have plenty to read, and many more stories and reveals to digest in the coming days. I am instead turning my attention to a scattershot of awesome science-fiction news; beginning with a few interesting developments out of Hollywood.

The Hollywood Reporter says Starship Troopers is coming back! Hold back the excitement for one second, people. Casper Van Dien likely won't be your bug-riding savior in this reboot. Colombia Pictures has inked a deal with Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (the writers behind the forthcoming Baywatch movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron) to breathe new life into this awesome dormant franchise. The early scuttlebutt is that Swift and Shannon are drawing more inspiration from the original Robert A. Heinlein Starship Troopers novel than the campy Paul Verhoeven adaptation of it. Regardless of what happens, I wouldn't mind seeing Van Dien make a Stan Lee-like cameo for fans who enjoyed his take on Johnny Rico.

As much as I want to turn this column into a meaty discussion about Mass Effect Andromeda, Game Informer is hittingthatdrumthunderously; you already have plenty to read, and many more stories and reveals to digest in the coming days. I am instead turning my attention to a scattershot of awesome science-fiction news; beginning with a few interesting developments out of Hollywood.

The Hollywood Reporter says Starship Troopers is coming back! Hold back the excitement for one second, people. Casper Van Dien likely won't be your bug-riding savior in this reboot. Colombia Pictures has inked a deal with Mark Swift and Damian Shannon (the writers behind the forthcoming Baywatch movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron) to breathe new life into this awesome dormant franchise. The early scuttlebutt is that Swift and Shannon are drawing more inspiration from the original Robert A. Heinlein Starship Troopers novel than the campy Paul Verhoeven adaptation of it. Regardless of what happens, I wouldn't mind seeing Van Dien make a Stan Lee-like cameo for fans who enjoyed his take on Johnny Rico.

All month long, we're excited to roll out exclusive features to coincide with our big December cover story on Mass Effect Andromeda. We know that fans have a lot of questions about the future of the series, and we're right there with them. While visiting BioWare Montreal, Game Informer's Joe Juba sat down with Mass Effect Andromeda's creative director Mac Walters to volley as many questions as we could about the series' past, present, and mysterious future. We hope you enjoy this absurd interview format.

Check out the rapid-fire interview below to learn more about Walters' take on the original trilogy, Shepherd's fate, and Andromeda's story.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

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Jun 7, 2017Updates and bug fixes OTW.

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Jun 7, 2017Updates and bug fixes OTW.

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